Recording mechanism for meters.



B. H. MEAD. RECORDING MEGHANISM FOB METERS.

APPLICATION FILED PEBJR, 1910.

Patented Nov'. 5, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

1Q @uw Ivenor:

HMewd Wimesses.-

Bly bwdttorneys;

Wvnesses:

B. H. MEAD.

RECORDING MEGHANISM FOR METERS. APPLICATION FILED 11.13.12, 1910.

APazenced Nov. 5, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

B. H. MEAD.

RECORDING MECHANISM FOR METERS.

Arrmonxop FILED 153.12, 1910.

1,043,386. Patented Nov.5, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

IIIIIIIIIIIII//llllll/lll Wnesses: Inman/w.-

HMewtZ I To all whom. 'it 'may concern.-

' ployed in 'conjunction with any of the exist- UNITED sTATEs PATENToEEIcE.

4BERT H. MEAD, 0F HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOB TO RICHARD, W.GALLAG-HER,

0F NEW YORK, N. Y.

RECORDING- HECHANIBH FOB METERS.

Be it known that I, BERT H. MEAD, a citizen of the Uni-.ted States,residing .at Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRecording Mechanism for Meters, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to recording mechanism for meters of variouskinds. Said mechanism possesses several 'features of proyement one beingthe recordifon a card or othersuitable device by the alil of simple andeffective means, of the meter readings and this feature of the inventioncan be eming types of gas or electric meters.

Another feature of lthe invention is` the revision of simple andeffective means for lndicating on a card. the amount or amounts pnt in aprepayment or coin-controlled meter and these features may as willhereinafter appear be used in the same meter or if desired they may beseparately employed.

In the drawings accompanying and forming part of the presentspecification I have represented in detail one convenient form ofembodiment of the invention which to enable thc-se skilled in the art topractice said inf vention will be fully set forth in the follow-4 ingdescription while the novelty of the invention will be included in theclaims suc ceeding said description. From this it will be evident that Ido not restrict myself to` the showing made by said drawings anddescription.

Referring to said drawings Figure l is a front elevation of a meterprovided with recording mechanism including my inven:- tion. Fig; '2 is'a vertical sectionaly view of the same., Fig. 3v is a. section on theline 3-3 of Fig., 2 and showing pawl andy ratchet means hereinafter.more particularly de scribed. Fig. 4 is a front elevation of a sector,punch and certain adjunctive devices hereinafter more fully described.Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the parts showing iny Fig. 4, the `sectionbeing taken at right angles to thedirection of the arrow. Fig. 6 is asec-- `lpeolcation of Letters Patent.

Application Med February la, 1910. .Serial Io. 543,496.

Patented Nov. 5, 1912.

form of a valve as illustrated) in fluid-delivering position..

Like characters refer to like parts throu hout the several iigures. l

In igs. 1 and 2l of the drawings I have shown portions of a meter ofknown construction the said meterl being denoted in a general way by 2and although this meter is assumed to be one for measuring gas it willbe, clear from the observations which I have already made, that I do notrestrict myself in this particular. The casing of the meter is denotedby- 3, and it incloses the usual; meter mechanism only the two-footShaft, however, of which is illustrated, said shaft designated by 4i.This yshaft as will hereinafter appear is operatively connected with therecording mechanism. n

The recording mechanism preferably includesin its makeup a card-carrierand this card carrier as well as the cardsupported thereby, may be ofany suitable kind. I might state at this time that I use the term cardas well as certain'other terms WhichI em loy intheir broad senses and bythe said designation I do: not necessarily meanl a flat part or what isordinarily considered to be a card. The purpose of the card is to securethereon a record of the operation of the meter. For example ameter-reader will when he installs the meter apply one of these cards tothe card carrier and a record will be made thereon. When the meterreadermakes a second visit to. read the meter he will make a second record onthe card and the card will be so marked that the amount of gas consumedby the userx can be seen at once' from the card it being the amountindicated byv the card' between the two 'record marks thereon. Therecords can be made in any desirable manner although I prefer to providemeans which will muti.- ate the card as by punching the same. I can alsomount upon" the card carrier more than one o the cards; I may placethereon two. one to sup liedto the meter user and the other to ken bythe gas or electric company'. The recordinof the meter operationprovides therefore r a check upon the usual dials -5 which in fact neednot necessarily be employed. y

The meter 2 is shown as sul portin a casing 6 andthe two parts may erigi lyconnectedr inf anyl desirable manner, said casing serving as aconvenient housing for the recording mechanism which involves cardoperating means such as the shaft 7 which as will hereinafter appear isconnected with the meter or register mechanism of which the shaft 4forms a part, by reason of which said card-carrier and the card thereoncan be operated in synchronism with the said meter mechanism. Said shaft7A is shown provided at its forward end with the disk or collar 8 shownas provided with diametrically opposite spurs, the card 10 fittingflatwise against the front face of said disk or collar 8 and beingpunctured by said spurs or barbs 9 to aid in holding the card or cardsin position. It should be explained that the card is centrallyperforated as at 11 to slip over the outer end of the shaft. I do notrely on these barbs to hold the card in place but provide a clampingmember as 12 for this purpose this clamping member which is shown asbeing of sleeved form being slipped over the end of theshaft so as topress the card against the collar or disk 8. In the slot 13 at theforward end of the said shaft I may mount a spring-detent 14 which snapsint-o a seat or aperture in the sleeve-like clamping member to hold thesame positively on the shaft 7 all asshown best in Fig. 5.

Any suitable means may be provided for operatively connecting thecard-carrying shaft 7 with the meter mechanism and I will now describethe means shown for this purose. p Fastened to the shaft 7 is theworm-gear 15 in mesh with the worm 16 fastened to the upper end of therotary shaft 17, the lower end of which has fastened thereto theworm-gear 18 in mesh with the worm 19 fastened to the shaft 4 from whichit will be evident that the card l0 is rotated .in harmony with themeter mechanism. The casing 6 may be provided interiorly thceof with thebracket 20 for sustaining the shaft 7 while the shaft 17 extends throughan opening in the top of the meter casing 3 and bottom of the recordingmechanism casing 6.

AThe casing-'6 is provided with a door as 21 which is shown as being ofswinging form being pivoted as at 22 to the lower front. side of saidcasing 6 and this door is opened for the purpose of obtaining access tothe interior of said casing 6 either to apply or remove an indicating orrecording card and in the present case the parts are so organized thatwhen said door is opened and when'the same is closed records of thesefacts are made upon the card 10. It will be assumed that the customarydials of the meter are all at zero and that the door 21 is swung open toput a card 1() on the card carrier 7. Vhen the door is shut a mark willbe made on the card and when the door is opened a second mark will bemade upon said card and as I have already indicated the reading ofthemeter will be indicated by the interval between the two marks, the cardbeing preferably scaled to facilitate reading thereof.

Y Rising from the bottom of the casing 6 within the same is a bracket 23having an overhanging or laterally-extending head 24 having a slit toreceive and guide the peripheral portion of the card 10, said slit beingintersected by the notch 26vin the underside of the head. This bracketconstitutes a suitable support for the angle lever 27, the short or uper Jarm of which is provided with a notchmg or cutting portion 28adapted on theoperation of the lever 27 to cut through the peripheralportion of the card. The said punching, cutting or notching portion '28is normally held in its retracted posit-ion in some positive manner, forexample by the spring 30 bearing against the long arm of said lever 27.The pivot 22 in the present case swings with the door 2l and it is shownhaving fastened thereto the crank-arm 31 which serves as a suitablemeans for operating the lever 27 which normally rests when in itsineffective position upon the stop 32 within the casing 6. The

underside of the tail portion of said'lever is shown having thedownwardly converging angular faces 33 and 34 coperative with the pin oractuating member 35 on the crank-arm 31. When the door 21 is swung openfrom the closed position in F ig. 2 said pin 35 engages andrides alongthe angular face 33 to lift the long arm of the angle lever 27 to causethe punching portion 28-to punch the card and on the closing of saiddoor the pin35 rides along the angular face 34 to again lift said longarm and repeat the punching operation. It should be stated that when thedoor 21 is swung wide open to effect the punching of the card, the pin35 passes wholly out of contact with the angular face 33 so that thelever can be retracted by the spring 30 and as shown the in 35 hasridden out of Contact with the ace 33 so that the lever can be held inits backward position by said spring.

In Fig. 7 I have shown and will now describe a modified form of punchingmechanism. 27 denotes a lever also o f angle form and which is operatedprecisely like the lever 27. 'The shorterl and upper arm of said lever27 has a loose connection as by a pin and slot joint, with one branch ofthe substantially yoke-like punching member 28 having a punching portion28". The lower branch of this punching member is guided and supported bya sleeve 23 on the bracket 23, to which said lever 27 is pivoted, thepunching member 28 being advanced and then retracted on the operativestroke of the lever 27 on the operation of the door 21 or itsequivalent. In this form of the puncheov in mechanism the card simplynests against a t face on the bracket 23.

The mechanism now to be described is primarily applicable to prepaymentmeters of various kinds and the arts are so organized that a record isma e on the.. card each time the 'coin-operated mechanism is actuated bythe user of the meter and the card 10 serves as a convenient means forsecuring these records. By virtue of this construction a check can behad upon the collector who removes the coins from the coin box of themeter. i

Onthe front side of the door 21 is a box open 'at the upper side thereofand the lower portion of this box serves as a suitable receptacle forthe coins. On the back side of the door 2l is a casing 36 which inclosescertain devices as will now appear constituting part of the recordingmechanism which operates in connectionwith the coincontrolled means andamong these devices is the shaft 37 which is supported for turn-v ingmotion by the back wall of the casing 36 and the door 21 said shafthaving at its forward end the head 38 inclosed by the box 39 and slottedas at 38 to receive the coins which in the present case are twentylivecent pieces.- The head 38 is surrounded by the sleeve 40 diametricallyoppositely slotted as at 40 and 40 for the passage of the coi-n saidsleeve having a journal portion 41 supported for turning motion-by thefront wall of the box 39 and equipped with a knob 42. This is asubstantially common form of means fnund in existing types of prepaymentmeters for which reason it is not necessary Vtlat I describe the same indetail it being understood that when the parts 38 and 40 are coupledtogether bya coin the shaft 37 can be turned so as to operate thedelivery mechanism of the `meter which receives its motion from theshaft 37, such-turning motion being effected by the knob 42 all in theusual manner. The coin as is well known is introduced into the slot ofthe head 38 on passing through the slot 40 until it rests on stops 43 inthe said head and when the knob 42 has made a half 'turn the slot 40,is-brought into position to receive a second coin, the first coin beingdischargedfinto the box 39 on the initial half turn of said knob. Theeffect of the turning shaft 37 is transferred throu h bevel gearingdenoted in a general way y 44 to the shaft 44 and from the latterthrough bevel gearing` 45 to the shaft 46 in the meter 2 the shaft 46being operatively connected with or forming a-` part of the usualdelivery mechanism.

Pivotally mounted within the casing 36 is a segment 47 and this segmentconstitutes a suitable step by step operated device it being givenanintermittent or step movement on each operation .of the deliverymechanism of the meter by the knob 42 or equivalent device. As willhereinafter ap ar the marking member for the card 10 1s carried by thissegment and While Isaid marking member may be of any desirable character.I prefer to employ means such as a punch by which a mutilated orpermanent record can be secured. This segment which consists of frontand rear branches which are practically duplicates of each other is sup-55 ,of said segment. The front portion of the segment has teeth adaptedto be engaged by a suitable device on the shaft 37 and this device may'consist ofa pin 49 extending radially f said shaft 37 and the project--ing end of which constitute teeth for engaging the teeth of saidsegment 47 to advance the same one step each time the knob 42 is turned.As will hereinafter appear the secondary card punching device, as itmight be termed, is operated after the segment has made one step, and soon until said segment has reached the end of its forward stroke at whichpoint the segment is returned positively to its original position, aswill hereinafter appear.

The secondary card-punching device is denoted.l by 50 and it is shown asconsisting of a. somewhat elongated pin supported for longitudinalsliding movement by the sec-` tions of the segment 47, the inner end ofthe said pin 'or punching device being reduced to present the punchproper which' whenn the punching device is thrust inward will punctureor perforate the card 10. Surrounding thepin or punch 50 is a coiledpush spring 51 one end of which bears against the inner section of thesegment 47 and the other end of which bears against a collar on said pin50, the function of the spring being to hold the punch or pin 50 in itsretracted position and to also return the sameto said position after`the same has been advanced and then released 'by an independent device.Thebracket 2O to which I have already referred has fastened thereto theshank ofthe curved plate or strip 52 and this plate or strip serves as asuitable means for receiving the thrust of the punch or pin 50 or as avmeans for steadying or holding-rigid that part of the card which is tobe unched or perforated by the part 50, it being seen that the innersurface of the card rides against or is in contact with this plate orstrip 52. The said plate or strip 52 has a slot 52 which is concentricwith the axisl of motion of the segment 47 and through this slot the pinor punch 50 is projected during the secondary recording operation. lVhenthe parts 38 and 40 are in coin-receiving posit-ion the endstof the pin49 willl be out of engagement with the toothed portion of the segment 47but when ner previously described one end of the pin across the plate52m which said slot is 49 will engage the A'toothed portion of saidsegmenkand thereby advance the same one step, said end engaging and thenriding out of engagement with said toothed portion and when the pin hasperformed its segment advancing operation the punch 50 will be projected'to carry its perforating end through the card 1() and arcuate slot 52',

formed, the indicating card sweeps. At this point it would be well tostate that the card has two scales; a peripheral scale where thegraduations are radial for measured service and an inner or coin scalewhere the graduations are circular and it is through the inner scaledportion of the card 10 that the punch 50 is projected so that it doesnot matter how much the card is turned insecuring an accurate record ofthe coins inserted into the coin-box 39.

The punch 50 is operated by means connected with the shaft 37 and I haveshown a disk 55 for this purpose said disk having on its inner surfacetwo bulges or cams 56 and being rotative with said shaft 37. These cams56 are adapted to successively operate the punch 50 by engaging the tailor outer portion thereof, the parts being so related that a'fter the pin49 has advanced the segment 47 in the manner previously described one ofthese cams on thecont'inued rotation of the shaft 37 will engage thepunch50 and thrust the same inward to force the operative or punchingend through the card, the cam toward the close of the knob-turning orshaft turninr movement passing oif the tail of said punch whereby thesame can be returned to its primary position by 1 the spring 51.Fastened to the shaft 37 is a ratchet-wheel 58 engageable by the springpawl 59 which prevents backward motion of said shaft 37 and the variousparts associated therewith. At the commencement of operating the punch50 will be opposite the zero mark on the card 10 although none isactually indicated thereon. When the knob 42 is turned in thel mannerpreviously described, the working end of said punch will be brought oposite the twenty five cent line of thecard) 10 and when the punch isgiven a working stroke this line will be perforated; the secondoperation will result in the perforation of the fifty cent line and soon within the limit of the machine.

Within the casing 36 and rotatively mounted on the door 21 is anindicating wheel 60 bearing on its front face the symbol O and thenumbers from 1 up which may be seen through a sight-opening 6l in saiddoor,

' these numbers being for the purpose of indicating how many times thesecondary card punching mechanism has been operated which will alsoindicate the amount of money that has been depositedin the coinbox 39.This wheel 60 is operated by a two-tooth or mutilated gear 63 on the shaft 37, one of the teeth of said part 63 being adapted to move the wheel60 one tooth of the latter on each turning movement of the shaft 37 bythe knob 42.

To prevent accidental backward movement of the segment 47 lI have shownthe pawl 65 held normally in operative position by the spring 66 saidpawl being pivoted within the casing 36 and means being provided to tripthe same and thereby release the said segment 47 'when the door 2l isunlocked, said door as is the custom being held closed under lock andkey. A Sub-` stantially similar pawl 67 is provided to preventaccidental backward movement of 'the register or indicating wheel 60.

The numeral 68 denotes a lock of familiar form which may be utilized tohold the door 21 closed and to the bolt 69 of this lock may be connectedthe tripping member 70 which has portions adapted to be thrust downwardagainst the tails of the two pawls 67 and 65 when the bolt 69 isretracted on the unlocking of the door 2l. The shaft of the wheel 60 issurrounded by a spring 71 connected to said shaft and to the wheel andthis spring is tensioned on the movement. of the wheel so that when thepawl 67 is tripped as already described the wheel 60 will be returned bysaid spring to its original position with the zero mark thereon oppositethe sight-opening 61 at which point the wide 100 tooth 60 of the saidwheel 60 will be against the operative port-ion of the pawl 67 tothereby prevent fu'rther backward movement of said wheel. The segment 47is returned to its original position when its holding pawl or detent 65is tripped by the spring 47 at which time the nose 47 of said segmentwill bear against the detent 67.

The Huid-supply controller may be of any suitable type although it isrepresented as consisting of a valve 80 (see Fig. 9) adapted to controlthe gas which iows into the meter 2 through the supply opening 81, saidvalve being shown as occupying its open position in said F ig.-9. Thestem 82 has a 115 square opening to receive the squared portion 83 ofthe shaft 46 hereinbefore described and it is also externally-threadedas at 82 to engage internal threads within the hub of the spur gear 84in mesh with the 120 pinion 85 o the two-foot shaft 4 of the metermechanism which it will be remembered is connected with the recordingmechanism through the shaft 17 and gears 18 and 19. It therefore followsthat when the sha-ft 37 is turned forward as already described throughthe action of the knob 42 and the agency of the coin, the valve 80 willbe opened by the mechanism shown in Fig. 9

acting through the described parts already set forth in detail. I mightindicatethat when said shaft 37 is lturned as just intimated the shaft46 through the intermediate parts will be also turned whereby said shaft46 owing to its described connection with the stem 82 will turn saidstem and owing to the feedconnection between said stem and the spur-gear84 the said valve will be opened so as to permit the flow'0f gas intothe meter2. I have already described how when the shaft 37 is turned anindication of such fact is secured on the record card 10. As the gas isconsumed or discharged from the meter the meter mechanism of which theshaft 4 is a part, is caused to operate whereby the pinion 85 will berotated so-as to rotate the gear 84 and in view of the feed connectionof said gear 84 with the stem 82 the valve 80 will be closed, the inalclosing of the valve occurring when the paid-for quantity of gas hasbeen discharged from the meter. As the valve 80 is being closed theshaft 17 y is being turned by the shaft 4 and ccperating gears 18 and 19by reason of which said shaft 17 through the parts-already described,can turn the card y10 a distance agreeing with the paid-for gas.

What I claim is:

1. The combination of card operating means, a meter for measurin Huid,provided with means for operating t e card operating means, a markingLdevicel to act on the card, for obtaining a record of the consumptionof fluid, an independently operative marking device for also marking thecard, and mechanism whereby said card and said independently operativemarking device can be given relative motions to vbring saidindependently operative marking device opposite different points on thecard.

2. The combination of card operating means, a meter for measuring fluid,provided with means for operating the card operating means, a markingdevice for the card, a device for supporting said marking device, andmanually operable means for shifting said supporting device and for alsocausing the marking device to intermittently mark the card.

3. The combination of card operating means, a meter for measuring iiuid,provided with means for operating the card operating means, a markingdevice for the card, a device for supporting said marking device, andmanually operable means for intermittently moving the supporting memberand for also causing the marking device to mark the card. i

4. The combination of a card supporting shaft, a meter for measuringfluid, provided with means for rot-ating said shaft, a marking devicefor the card, a device for sup- 'porting said marking device, andmanually operable means for moving saidsupporting device step by stepand for also causing the marking device to mark the card on each step.

5. The -combination of card operating means, a meter for measuringfluid, provide with means for operating the card operating vfor alsomarking the card, and means for shifting the second marking device tobring it opposite different points on the card.

7. The combination of card operating meansa meter for measuring fluid,provided with means for operating said card operating means, a markindevice for marking the card carried by said card carrier, anindependently operative marking device for also `marking the card, andmeans for bodily shift-ing the second marking device.

8. The combination of card operating means, a meter for measuringfluid,provided with means for operating the card o erating means,a-marking device, 'a manual y operable part for actuating said markingdevice to mark the card, a second and shiftably mounted marking device,and means for operating said second 'marking device to also obtain arecord on the card.

9. The combination of card .operatin means, a meter for measuring fluid,provided with means for operating the card operating means, a'ma'nuallyoperable member, a segment, means connected .with said manually operablemember for moving the segment step by step, a marking device supportedby the segment, and means connected with said manuallyoperable memberfor actuating the marking device to cause the same to mark said card.

l0. The combination of card operating means, a meter for measuringfluid, provided with means for operating the card operating means, amanually operable member, a toothed segment, means connected with saidmanually operable member, for operating said segment step by step, acard marking device supported by said segment, and cam means connectedwith said manually operable member, for operating the marking device tomark the card.

'1.1.l The combination of "card operating means, av marking device forthe card, a meter for measuring fluid, provided with means for securinga relative motion between 'the card operating means and the markingdevice to bring said marking device opposite different points on thecard, a second marking device, and independent means for securing arelative motion between the card operating means and the second markingdevice to bring said second markin device 0pposite dierent oints on thecard.

12. The comblnation of a meter provided with a Huid controlling device,manually op-y erable mechanism for moving said fluid controlling devceinto a iuid supplying osition2 a supporting devicefor a recor receivlngmaterial, means for securing a record on said record receiving material,each time the said fluid controlling device is moved to fluid supplyingposition, and means for securing on the same record re- 15 ceivingmaterial a record of the consumption of the fluid. n In testimon whereofI aix my signature 1n presence o two witnesses.

BERT MEAD.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR-J. MASON, F. E. ANDERSON.

